Victoria-obsessed man arrested by Danish police

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Danish police have apprehended a mentally ill man obsessed with Swedish Crown Princess Victoria, six days after he escaped from a psychiatric institution, police said on Wednesday.

The man, Jens Peter Schwartzlose, a 41-year-old Dane, escaped on Friday from the Amtssygehuset Fjorden hospital near Roskilde, west of Copenhagen.

He was arrested early on Wednesday near Tappernoeje, about 100 kilometres south of Copenhagen, Roskilde police said.

According to the Swedish tabloid Expressen, security around Princess Victoria was increased after Schwartzlose's escape, though Swedish security police refused to comment on the report.

"He is very interested in royals in Sweden and Denmark. He has said he wants to marry Victoria," Roskilde chief police inspector Ib Meng told AFP on Tuesday, adding that the Dane was "mentally ill and needs to take medication."

According to Expressen, Schwartzlose has sent threatening letters to the Swedish royal family and to Victoria in particular in the past.

He also reportedly escaped from a mental institution in 1999 and was caught on the grounds of the royal family's summer residence, Solliden, on Öland island just hours before an official celebration of Victoria's 22nd birthday.